


Their First Chapter of Happily Ever After

by garilin



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, Found Family, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-02
Updated: 2018-06-02
Packaged: 2019-05-17 09:30:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14829744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/garilin/pseuds/garilin
Summary: It's not over when they cross the border. It's not over when they get to Rose's brother's house, a plain but massive two-story in the suburbs.





	Their First Chapter of Happily Ever After

It's not over when they cross the border. It's not over when they get to Rose's brother's house, a plain but massive two-story in the suburbs.

Or, well, it is over, but Kara can't smother the buzz of anxiety simmering below her skin. She tries her best to ignore it, to believe in the safety of this place, the smiles of their neighbors, the warmth of this moment. Rose, pressed against her side, gaze locked on the television as the news anchors drone on. Laughter filters in through the window: Alice and Jerry and Luther, playing an exceptionally noisy game of hide-and-seek. From the left she can hear Adam busying about the kitchen preparing breakfast, exchanging quiet words with his uncle all the while.

"Kara, where are you?" Rose asks, which is better than the 'are you okay' she'd already asked twice today.

"I'm here, and I'm fine. Really."

Rose looks over at her, letting Kara see for herself how very not-convinced she is. Still, she lets it go. "Okay. Just know that you're allowed not to be. We're here for you."

Kara smiles, bright and beautiful and sad, "I know. Thank you, Rose. For everything."

Smiling back at her, Rose settles deeper into the couch, laying an arm across the back and around Kara's shoulders. "Anytime."

Something else unfolds in Kara's chest. Rose is...Kara is amazed by her, by the depths of her compassion, her patience, her unshakeable confidence. Her sole weak spot is her son, which Kara wouldn't dream of faulting her for even if she didn't have Alice and Luther to worry about herself. That's just how family is, she's come to find.

The affection she feels for this woman...It's different for how she feels for the others. It's become more distracting the more time they've spent together. All too often, Kara finds herself staring off into space, wondering exactly how Rose sees her. She knows Rose is fond of her, she knows that that fondness developed itself pretty much immediately after their meeting, but she isn't sure what form it takes. Friend, sister, fellow mother? That stress, plus everything else, has Kara's head spinning.

And Alice is starting to worry.

Glancing at Rose from the corner of her eye, Kara realizes that she is going to have to talk about some of it. For Alice, if not for herself.

So. Kara pulls away from Rose. She ignores her questioning look and perches on the far left seat of the couch, leaving a seat open between them. "Rose, can we talk?"

"TV, off. What's going on, Kara?"

Kara jumps in her seat at a high-pitched shriek from outside. The silence after pushes down on her, but she can't find her trail of thought.

"Kara?"

"It's okay, Rose. Really," Kara reassures. Rose smiles back at her, encouraging. "I'm just having trouble settling in, after everything."

When Kara doesn't elaborate, Rose says, "That's understandable, and perfectly normal after everything you went through."

"How can I make it go away?"

Rose hummed. "Could be you just need time. Talking about it might help."

And that's how Kara ends up recounting the whole tale to Rose, starting from when she woke up in the shop after being repaired after a 'car accident' and ending after they made it through the passport check. Through it all, Rose asks questions and deliberates and she even makes Kara laugh a few times, hysterically or not. Rose scooches forward at sometime, then Kara does, and eventually they're tangled up in each other in the middle. When she's said everything she can and realizes there are tears on her cheeks, Kara buries her face in Rose's shoulder and sobs.

* * *

Talking worked, though not as much as she'd hoped it would. But she keeps smiling, and packs Alice a lunch large enough to feed three kids. She doesn't eat, but she likes sharing food and, for now, they can afford it.

"Alice!" she calls.

"Kara! You're leaving already?" Jerry questions with a pout. He's often more childish than Alice, which should probably be concerning considering he's in charge of her and three human children all day, but Kara knows he would never allow anything to happen to them. He'd had her trust before they'd spent the last three weeks cohabiting.

"I'm afraid so," Kara says. While she likes her job, she means it. So she clutches Alice close, frames her face in her palms, kisses her forehead. Despite all logic, goodbyes always feel final.

"Have a nice day, Kara. I'll see you later," Alice murmurs.

"Yes. Yes, you will," Kara assures. "And I just know you're going to have a wonderful day."

When Luther rounds the corner, she backs away to give them their own time.

Going to work had been a decision they made together. It felt weird loitering around the house while Rose and her brother were at work and Adam and Alice were at school. It didn't seem to affect Jerry, but Kara figured he was used to stillness. He was better at finding himself things to do while everyone was away.

"Ready to leave?" asks Adam, somewhat awkwardly. They have the beginnings of a good friendship between them, but for now it's still stilted.

Luther answers in the affirmative for her, already halfway to the door.

They carpool, her, Luther, and Adam, since their destinations are clustered together and there are only two cars. Luther steps out at a restaurant where he bartends, Adam at a local college he attends. Kara herself works in retail.

It's nice, doing ordinary things. Following routines, receiving something in return for her work. Work that she doesn't have to do. It helps her feel more real in a way she hasn't since those calamitous days with Alice (and later, Luther) on the road. A handful of days that still feel like they lasted forever. She can't decide whether the memories feel days or years old.  
She knows her coworkers find her weird. Stand-offish. She also can't be bothered to care. 

* * *

Three months after Detroit, Kara remembers that living with Rose forever hadn't been the plan. Her, Luther, and Alice (and perhaps now, Jerry) hadn't spoken a word about it, but Kara has a vague image of them living in an apartment downtown or an abandoned cottage in the woods, somewhere all their own.

But. Looking at Rose across the table over dinner, sharing in her laughter, Kara can't think of one reason to leave.

* * *

Kara recovers, slowly but surely. Just in time for Luther to have a breakdown after a customer figured out he was an android. She never thought she would see him cry. Her heart pangs, one part sympathy and compassion and another part love and pride, because he is choosing to allow her to see him this way, cut open and vulnerable.

"The way he looked at me...I thought we were friends, Kara," Luther says.

"He didn't tell your boss or call the police. Maybe he was just surprised."

"Yeah. Maybe," Luther allows. He doesn't sound at all hopeful.

They sleep together that night, curled up close with Alice between them.

The customer, John, shows up at their doorstep the next morning. Kara resists the temptation to eavesdrop, though she is sure this is not going to go well. Without thinking, she has a getaway bag prepared, stuffed full with only their most precious possessions. She feels like she might cry, but when she catches her own gaze in the mirror, her eyes are dry.

The door knob turning has her halfway out the window.

"Kara?" Luther asks, confused but not terribly shocked.

"I'm sorry. I wouldn't have left you." Kara swings her legs back into the house. Luther steadies her when they shake.

"I know. You haven't abandoned me yet, Kara, not even when I was screaming for you to."

They hug. It's nice. Kara calms almost immediately.

"What did he want to talk about?"

Luther smiles. It's distant, mysitfied. "You were right. He came to apologize and to, uh...He asked me out." He shrugs. "I said yes."

"Really?" Clearly, that was not at all wat Kara had been expecting, last night's optimism included.

She laughs when he does.

They still sleep together that night, their bag hidden under the bed.

* * *

Kara doesn't see much of Luther over the next few weeks. It doesn't worry her; Luther and John are newly together and it gives her more time alone with Rose.

"And he didn't suspect you?"

"Nope! He was so drunk that night he didn't remember a thing."

"Lucky you."

Silence falls between them. It feels comfortable, intimate, but Kara is hyperaware of a pressure building somewhere deep inside of herself.

"Rose," Kara begins, haltingly, because she thinks she knows what she wants from the other woman. "Rose, you know how Luther is dating a human?"

"Yes?"

"Would you consider dating an android?"

"Why not?" Rose says. "You're as much people as humans are."

"Oh," Kara exhales. "Good. I was hoping you would say that."

Rose looks at her, her eyebrows scrunched together. "Why are you asking, Kara?"

Kara doesn't hesitate. "I'm asking because I would like to date you, if you're willing."

"Oh," Rose says. Her face goes blank. Two of Rose's heartbeats pass as Kara sits there, holding her breath.

Finally, a small smile graces her lips. "Yeah. I'd like that."

**Author's Note:**

> To be clear, John's freak-out is over whether androids are supposed to be aroace or whether it's an individual thing and whether or not Luther could consent. It doesn't take him long to decide that, obviously, he should just ask.


End file.
